Séamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)

The free travel scheme is available to all people aged 66 years or over living in the State. All carers in receipt of carer's allowance and carers of people in receipt of constant attendance or prescribed relative's allowance, regardless of their age, receive a free travel pass. It is also available to people under the age of 66 in receipt of certain disability type welfare payments, such as disability allowance, invalidity pension and blind person's pension. People resident in the State who are in receipt of a social security invalidity or disability payment from a country covered by EU regulations, or from a country with which Ireland has a bilateral social security agreement, and who have been in receipt of this payment for at least 12 months, are also eligible for free travel.

The scheme provides free travel on the main public and private transport services for those eligible under the scheme. These include road, rail and ferry services provided by companies such as Bus Átha Cliath, Bus Éireann and Iarnród Éireann, as well as Luas and services provided by more than 80 private transport operators.

The free travel scheme applies to travel within the State and point to point cross-Border journeys between here and Northern Ireland. In line with the Government objective to put in place an all-Ireland free travel scheme for pensioners resident in all parts of this island, I am committed to improving the North-South element of the current arrangements and hope to be in a position to make an announcement about soon on this matter.

There has been a number of requests and inquiries on the extension of entitlement to free travel in Ireland to Irish born people living outside Ireland, or to those in receipt of pensions from my Department, particularly in the UK when they return to Ireland for a visit. The legal advice available to me is that such proposals would be contrary to the EC treaty, which prohibits discrimination on the grounds of nationality. However, I am continuing to explore all aspects of a possible approach. Recognition of the contribution of emigrants to the growth of this country is a priority of the Government.

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